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2019 East Coast floods (Blackford)
the 2019 East Coast floods '''was a prolonged period of flooding caused by a combination of snowmelt, several storm systems bringing heavy rain as well as Tropical Depression One, which moved just barely off the coast of the Carolinas on April 28 while approaching possible tropical storm status. The first floods of the event were recorded on February 26, 2019 in Delaware, although the states of North and South Carolina would be the worst effected regions of the flooding event. Meteorological history On February 19, 2019, Winter Storm Xena moved into the northeastern United States, bringing snowfall totals as high as 25 inches across parts of Delaware, with isolated totals in the mountains of North Carolina reaching 40 inches or higher. By February 21, Xena had cleared the northeast, after producing a maximum snowfall total of 47 inches in the mountains of McDowell County, North Carolina. On February 24, the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) issued a Day 3 slight risk of flooding for the areas effected by Xena, as temperatures were anticipated to increase from 15-20°F across most of the region to around 40-45°F over February 25 and 26, ending the winter season across some areas. This was increased to a moderate risk on February 25, with some rain now also anticipated to add on to the snowmelt. Temperatures reached 50°F across portions of Delaware on February 26, and snowmelt began that morning. The WPC issued a high risk of flooding for February 26 due to the fact that as much as 20 inches of snow was located on the ground across most of the area, and a additional 5-8 inches of rain was also possible (which warranted a moderate risk of excessive rainfall for the same region). Another moderate risk of flooding was in place across the Carolinas due to temperatures approaching 55°F across elevations higher than 1,000 feet, which could cause moderate to severe flash flooding in spots. Late February flood event On February 26, rapid snowmelt ensued across portions of the Mid-Atlantic as temperatures reached as high as 60°F in isolated spots. This snowmelt resulted in rivers cresting at moderate to severe flood stage on February 27 and 28 across Delaware and Maryland. One person was swept away from flood waters near Alexandria, Virginia on February 27, as the area had seen over 10 inches of rain as well as upwards of 30 inches of snow still on the ground (which had now melted into over a foot of water on the ground). Flash flood warnings were put out through the flood event, mainly across the states of Delaware and Maryland, with the town of Sussex Woods, Delaware being put under a mandatory evacution order on March 1 due to catastrophic flooding. The rivers began to fall below flood stage on March 2-5, and the flood event mostly came to a end by March 7, however some rivers across the region wouldn't fall below minor flood stage until late June. Late March and Early April flood event In late March, a historic nor-easter impacted the eastern seaboard, dumping as much as 20-30 inches of snow in the Midwest, while producing as much as 25-40 inches of rain across parts of the eastern seaboard. The WPC, in anticipation that the nor-easter would dump very heavy rain, issued a high risk of flooding and excessive rainfall on March 21, mainly across the states of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Isolated rainfall totals as high as 30 to 40 inches were seen across parts of the Mid-Atlantic from March 21 to 24, many rivers tipped their all-time record crests in Delaware and Virginia as another 5-10 inches of rain fell on March 26, further fueling a catastrophic flood event. Upwards of 17 people were killed in the flooding of late March, however the event was much worse than the also ongoing floods in Nebraska and Iowa due to the fact that much more emergency funding was split into those regions than the Mid-Atlantic. Multiple times the state of Virginia attempted to get a federal disaster declaration, however were multiple times turned down. On April 2, rainfall totals as high as 10 inches fell across the region, resulting in 27 rivers reaching extreme flood stage, which finally got FEMA to pay attention to the Mid-Atlantic. By April 5, the Governor of Virginia had finally convinced the government to declare the state of Virginia a federal disaster zone, mainly the counties most severely effected by flooding. By the 10th, 25 of the 27 rivers had dropped below extreme flood stage, while 92 of the 136 rivers that reached severe flood stage had dropped below that level. Another 139 of the 204 rivers that reached moderate flood stage had also dropped below moderate flood stage, while none of the rivers had fell below minor flood stage. On April 13, the Flood Watch was cancelled for the region, as a dry environment set in. By April 15, roughly 80% of the rivers had dropped below minor flood stage. On April 19, the final 19 rivers above minor flood stage were determined to be below flood stage, ending the Late March and Early April floods. Tropical Depression One '''THIS IS A WORK-IN PROGRESS! Category:Flood events